What drives change in deregulated markets and how do all the systems and processes get adjusted, tested and implemented? Whose job is it to implement the changes resulting from Regulatory orders, Utility system upgrades, and new technology?Once the discussion at the legal level is over, resulting in a decision to implement, the EDI/EBT workgroups enter the process.

These teams are made up of representatives from Utilities, Suppliers, EDI and Billing Service Providers, Public Utility Commissions and various Consulting and Software firms.They look at the business and technical aspects of the change and break it down into data requirements, changes to existing transactions and processes or creation of new transactions and processes when required.And to the credit of these industry warriors it is done in an open environment, with all parties welcome to participate and work towards the best implementations to meet the needs of all stakeholders.Some folks have been participating in this process for nearly 20 years, and much of this work is done in addition to their fulltime jobs.This strong commitment to the deregulated energy industry enables continue growth and improvements and an ongoing Choice to the ultimate end use customers of the electricity and gas.

There are too many folks involved in this effort for me to name and I would hate to slight someone by leaving them unmentioned, but those of us who do this work know them well and are grateful for their efforts.

If you work in the Deregulated industry, regardless of the entity you work for or the function you support, come and see how individuals can come together and voluntarily invest themselves to create high quality solutions that meet the letter of the law. This is done with a spirit of cooperation to work with folks with whom they may be ideologically at odds, and who may be direct competitors in the market place, but is done most importantly for the good of the industry.

There are many topics currently being discussed in the workgroups including Net Meter Aggregation, Accelerated Switching procedures, Historical interval usage standards, EDI Implementation Guideline updates and much more . . .Click here to review our summary of last month’s meetings. This also includes next meeting dates and dial-in information if you would like to get involved. Please join us in this important work!